US Women Eying Next Opponents Warily not Gold Speculatively

By Kara McDermott

Since the women’s side opened in 1996, the US Women’s National Team has only ever once taken home silver medals in the Olympics: in 2000 – their worst showing. A run to the top of the podium in 2012 will be their hat trick in gold medals, and particularly after the disappointment of the loss to Japan in the World Cup last year on penalty kicks, the team will want to go home with that distinction.

The US players will have a collective déjà vu as they enter the Olympics with a group that is essentially the same as the World Cup with Colombia and North Korea. The wild card is France, and the Yanks will be taking them on first.

The last time these two teams met was the semi-finals in the World Cup, a veritable drumming as the US beat Les Bleus Feminines 3-1.

In a press conference from Glasgow where the US was training and wiil play, coach Pia Sundhage expressed confidence that a similar result would take place this summer as well.

“I think this year is a little bit easier, to be honest, playing France the first game instead of playing North Korea the first game last year. We know how they are going to play. When they get comfortable with the ball in the attacking third they are unpredictable so we need to stay tight with our back four.”

The tight back four that Sundhage will be looking for out of the US has had its challenges in recent months, notably with the ACL injury of Ali Krieger while qualifying for the Olympics.

Captain Christie Rampone will be called on especially for her organizational skills as the anchor for the defense:

“I think over the last two months the team defending has gotten so much better and there has been more of a focus on making sure our spacing is correct between our back line and our midfield.

That’s part of my job …Overall I think defensively we are trying to put together a team that puts on as much pressure as possible, as well as always trying to dictate the tempo as a back four against the other opponent – just making sure they’re not comfortable and they are not dictating our line, we’re dictating their line.”

Up top, there will be a lot of eyes on an explosive offensive line that will very likely feature veteran workhorse Abby Wambach and speedy Sounder Alex Morgan who has worked her way to the starting lineup since the World Cup.

Wambach, the hero of last year’s epic showdown with Brazil was full of praise for the new filly coming up through the ranks.

“Alex definitely brings a total different skill set than I do. She’s a very speedy fast forward who gets behind defenses. I’m more of a target forward: stay central, get the ball through me so that we can move up the field.

It’s one thing I remember in 2004 that Mia [Hamm] and I kind of had; that we complimented each other. I think that’s what Alex and I have now. I just hope that she continues to perform and score goals at the rate that she’s doing, because what she is doing is giving our team a better chance of winning games.”

Everything is in place for the US to have a good run at a gold medal in this year’s Summer Games. They are heavily favored to take top honors out of their group and to advance to the final.

But historically dominant US will have tough challenges in their hopes to climb to the highest podium: greater parity on the women’s side was evidenced in last year’s World Cup.

It was the first year that the champion did not go completely undefeated (eventual winners Japan lost 0-2 to England in group play).

Wambach, who had to sit out of her team’s gold medal run in 2008 after suffering a gruesome leg break right before the tournament, draws confidence from as much as what is in the heads of her teammates as what their feet can do:

“We have this winning mentality, a never quite mentality and if you can combine that with the possession style that Pia would love us to play – that’s a team that I fear.

In the end, yes tactics and technique and coaching and players and output execution is all important, but I’m pretty clear in that if we were to have the chance to get into that gold medal game, in the waning minutes of that game it’s about who wants it more.

Everybody’s done the work, everybody’s good enough. Everybody’s done everything they possibly can to win that gold medal and for me it’s about who wants it more.”

But coach Sundhage, hasn’t gazed quite as far as Wambach yet.

“We look at the next game and want to play well and want to win. If we win the next game we win the medal. I’m not talking about the gold medal that much, I’m looking at the next game.”

That next game will be on Wednesday, July 25 at 9:00 a.m. PST against France, then against Colombia on Saturday July 27 at 9:00 a.m. PST and ending group play against Korea DPR on Tuesday July 31 at 9:15 a.m. PST.